The Case of the Non-Award of a Pulitzer in Fiction

By Christopher Shea

Via Bloomberg News

“Swamplandia,” by Karen Russell, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in fiction but, like the other nominees, passed over by the Pulitzer board.

In an interview with the Daily Beast, Maureen Corrigan, one of the three judges for the Pulitzer prize in fiction, clarifies that it wasn’t the judges, but the larger Pulitzer board that decided not to award a prize this year:

“I can safely say that anger and surprise/shock, and just sort of feeling this is an inexplicable decision on the part of the board—that really characterizes, I think, the way all three of us feel,” Corrigan said. “The obvious answer is to let the [jury] pick. We’re the people who have gone through the 300 novels. All the board is asked to do is to read three top novels that we’ve given to them…In fact, what’s happened today is a lot of the articles and blog posts have gotten it wrong—they’ve been blaming the three of us!”

“Honestly, I feel angry on behalf of three great American novels,” added Corrigan, a critic for NPR who also teaches at Georgetown University. According to the Pulitzer’s ground rules, the choice of the judges (or an alternative selection) must be approved by a majority of the board. Evidently that didn’t happen this year.

Now, of course you’d expect there to be cases in which a book, article, or piece of music might win plurality but not majority support — and that’s when the politicking would begin. But where fiction was concerned, the will to resolve the disagreement wasn’t there (and there was no stern figure in black robes to order the jury to get back in the room and work harder).

A grand total of one novelist, Junot Diaz, sits on the 20-member Pulitzer board, amid a passel of newspaper columnists, editors, and a few professors (typically journalism or history). Assuming their interests line up with their job titles, it’s a group you’d expect to be much more interested in the investigative-journalism prize — and even prizes given to arts critics on the staffs newspapers — than the fiction laurel.

In fact, maybe the surprising thing about the Pulitzers is not that no award was granted in fiction this year, but that this doesn’t happen more often—and that any award is ever given for poetry or, especially, music, the creators of which are wholly absent from the board.

Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised when we’re reminded that the Pulitzers are basically about rewarding the work of newspapers, with the arts playing the role of a somewhat awkward add-on. Still: strange decision, strange process.

Perfect Download Icons gives web site designers and software developers an alternative way to get high quality icons they can use with all of their products without restricted licenses. The icons are focused on downloads,uploads,and transfers of files but can be used for a wide range of purposes. The download icons collection is more affordable than custom-made designs,plus the icons can be immediately accessed upon purchase.
Download Icons for Web Sites $ Software Use - Details -
Seo Directory Links / Listing Details
HomeSubmit LinkLatest LinksTop HitsID:70413Title: Download Icons for Web Sites $ Software UseURL:perfect-icons.comPagerank:3Description:Perfect Download Icons gives web site designers and software developers an alternative way to get high quality icons they can use with all of their products without restricted licenses. The icons are focused on downloads, uploads, and transfers of files but can be used for a wide range of purposes. The download icons collection is more affordable than custom-made designs, plus the icons can be immediately accessed upon purchase.Category:Computers: GraphicsLink Owner:Dmitry CostencoDate Added:September 24, 2009 09:33:13 AMNumber Hits:0
Home Submit Link Latest Links Top HitsPowered by: PHP Link DirectoryTemplate by: Emillie Web DirectorySponsored by: Link Building Company

8:07 am May 7, 2012

Basiru wrote :

An article that exapilns why certain guerilla marketing campaigns won’t work even if it seems like a great idea. It is all about how you frame your idea. LikeBe the first to like this post.

9:54 am April 18, 2012

Gen wrote :

The judges are right -- they're not to blame. They're as surprised as anyone else. You have to wonder if they're second-guessing their three choices for finalists.

Regarding your criticism of the Pulitzer Board lacking Novelists. I always thought that was the point really. It's not an award for best literary work. It is an award for the most Pulitzer-worthy novel. The Pulitzer is centered around journalism, and as such, the fictive works selected also tend towards the journalistic, or at least documentarian.